I Will Follow You

Genesis 3:1-24

Instructor, Chuck Horner, from my online bible course, was talking about the fall of Adam and Eve. In the teaching he made a comment that caused me to pause the study reread the scripture. He stated that Adams first sin was not eating the fruit but his first sin was doing what his wife told him to do.

Read it for yourself: Genesis 3:17(ESV) And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’

Before you ladies all decide to stone me hear me out. I think women should be able to work outside the home if they want. I think women should get equal pay for the same job that a man gets paid to do. I also think women can be beautiful, smart and still be tough.

But I also believe God made man and woman different. I do believe that God created us with the intention of the man being the caretaker of his wife, his home, his family and his job. Those are big responsibilities and not any to be taken lightly.

We live in a culture that teaches young girls and women that allowing a man to take care of them makes us less of a woman.  We are told that we DON’T NEED A MAN to open the door for us, to do the heavy lifting jobs at our home and we certainly don’t need him to be the leader of the home because we are equal.

I can not count the number of women that I know personally that RUN their household and not because the man can’t or won’t but because they choose to be in control and the man allows it.  If you are a Christian, that life style maybe popular but it is not biblical.  God is the head of all of us and then the man was put over the woman, to care for her, love her and to protect her.  Not because she can’t do those things but because that was the responsibility that God gave him.  I work with children and I hear them say many times that their mom is the boss of their dad.  What is this teaching our young girls and young boys?  PS. All of these situations consist of Christian families.

I CAN do all the things that the man can do, however I am happy that I have a man in my life who chooses to take the biblical stance and does things for me instead.  I want to be cared for, loved and protected by my man.  I don’t tell him what to do, nor does he tell me what to do.  If we have a difference of opinion on a subject, we pray together about what to do next and yes, if we can’t decide I choose to allow my husband to make the final decision.  FYI. I have never regretted doing this, because his decision was the right one each time.

There is an old song named, I will follow you by Toulouse.  I love the song because it basically says that the person singing it will follow the other person wherever they go and that nothing can keep them away because of their love for them.  If we love our husbands and we love The Lord, then we should follow them wherever they may go and follow their lead with whatever decisions they may make. Remember, I am talking about a Christian husband who is following God.

Maybe today, you need to pray that God will humble you to follow your husband.  If we can’t or don’t follow our husbands, how will we obey and follow God?  I am praying for you today to make God first and your husband second.  Don’t cause your husband to sin as Adam did.  Allow him to be the leader of your home and show the next generation that following the bible is not old and outdated.  Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  Give it try.  What do you have to loose?

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Two Things Every Dream Needs

Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” 

Psalms 37:23-24“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the one who holds his hand” 

Have you ever known in your heart that the Lord was directing to you do something bigger than you thought you were capable to do?  I have.  Actually I am in the mist of that BIG THING right now.  I went through so many emotions before I said yes.  You see I am a bit of a perfectionist.  Those reading this who know me said, “yes you are” as soon as they read that.  I am also impatient.  Once I commit to something I want to get it done NOW.  I am also a planner.

All of these can be good qualities, however they can also be roadblocks. You see if God has directed you to do something you should allow Him to direct your steps.  When we fall, and we may, we won’t stay down because the scripture says he holds us in his hands. You see He has given us the keys to completing the goal, dream, vision, whatever you may call it, in todays scripture.

In pursing every dream you need two things to successfully allow God to direct your steps and to help you with the fear of falling:  Prayer and Patience.  Ok, so number one comes easy for me because I LOVE TO PRAY.  Maybe it is easy for you too.

The second one is the hardest for me.  Patience.  That’s why I need to pray a lot, to pray that God gives me more patience as WE work towards the prize.  I am not sure how confident you are regarding your dream or calling.  If God has ask you do something, then I suggest that you begin every day with prayer, asking Him to direct your every step, every process, every idea as you move forward.

Don’t give up on your dreams if they don’t happen right away or even if you fall.  If you know in your heart that God has called you to do something then just know that He will get you through to it.  Don’t be afraid.  God has great things for you and I know one thing, He is faithful and just.  Go after your dreams and do it right now.  Take that first step right now.  Comment below and share what your dream is and what you are doing to move forward towards it.

 

Separated

Isaiah 59:2 But your wrongs have separated you from your God, and your sins have made him hide his face so that he doesn’t hear you.

1 Corinthians 15:33  Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”    

Sin not only separates us from God but it separates us from other brothers and sisters in Christ and our church or it should anyway.  Not forever, but until they decide to get back on track with their spiritual life.  Does that mean that we stop loving them, stop praying for them, stop being nice to them?  The answer to all these questions is no.  We can still associate with them but because they have chosen to live a life contrary to what God has asked to do we need to take a break from hanging with them every day.  These are not my words only but God’s words.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of Godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

We should love them and encourage them, we should pray for them and we should not act like we are better than they are because we are all sinners.  Ask yourself, do they know what they are doing is wrong yet purposefully choose to do it. Remember that God never stops loving them and neither should we.

Romans 8:35-39  ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Surround yourself with others who love The Lord as you.  My mother always said, birds of a feather flock together.  It is time to find a flock that flies for Jesus.  Together you can soar to heights that you never thought possible.

Waiting with Hope

Have you prayed for someone you love that you are still waiting for God to answer? Then this song from John Waller should inspire you to patiently wait upon the Lord.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

31 Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the Lord will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won’t become weary. They will walk and won’t grow tired. This is promise from God that you can count on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0F2pyZyjdo&feature=youtu.be

You Can Do Anything God is Calling You To Do

Exodus 4: 10-12

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

On October 7, 2014 I created a page called Droplets To Ripples. I really believed in my heart that God was calling me to become a motivational speaker and author. The launch of this page was a way for me to let God know that I heard Him and I was going to be obedient to what He was asking me to do. I ask a couple of friends to join me and to include post when they could.

Life got busy. Friends came and went. Jobs changed and my church went through a break and so did I. SO I QUIT. Yep, you heard it from me. I am a pastors wife who quit, thats got to be worse than when you quit right??

Earlier this year, I felt the Spirit of The Lord nudge my heart to begin this journey again. Even though I had quit and pushed the thought deep in the back of my mind, God did not. Once again, to appease God, I moved from a page to a group and began to write devotionals again.

I thought if I would just write something on my page, a little more often than before, then God would be satisfied yet again. After all, I was going to write longer post and write more often. I made all kinds of excuses as to why this was ENOUGH. WELLLLLLLL……It wasn’t. Writing on a group page was NOT what He has ask me to do.

This weekend 20+ women attended an annual women’s retreat titled “Radiance”. The theme was surrounding Moses and how his face was radiant after seeing the back side of God when he went up to get the ten commandments. Well God showed up for me in ay own burning bush.Jennie Gray Scott, a Proverbs 31 speaker and author, was a guest speaker at our event. I shared with Jennie what I felt God had ask me to do and I immediately began to give her a few of my excuses why I could not do it. One by one Jennie, like God did to Moses, she told me how I could do everything God had called me to. She even told me that she would help me do it. By the way, I was not asking her to help me, I was telling her why I COULDN’T DO IT. I was hoping she would tell me how she understood and how I was right.

God has something for you to do. Stop making excuses and go for it. Don’t waste years like I did. My son has a new facebook page called Launch Pad Movement: https://www.facebook.com/launchpadmovement/
The purpose of the movement is help people like me and you reach our goals, our dreams and our destiny that God has called us to. He and his friend search out people who have done what you want to do. They host podcast and help you make connections to help you become successful at a faster pace.

You can do anything that God is calling you to do. I personally heard him LOUD AND CLEAR this weekend and I will not wait this time. So if you need a motivational speaker for your women’s group, small group or event, I would love to come speak and share the word of God with you. Pray for me as I begin my book and this new journey of fully surrendering to The Lord. Start your journey today ladies! I am starting mine! Thank you Jennie Gray Scott and thank you Lord for trusting and calling me to your service.

Two Are Better Than One

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

 

I grew up in a generation where most of my neighbors were family and so were my best friends.  The one thing about family, in my generation, was that family was forever.  In-laws were called family not in-laws and Sunday dinner at Grandma’s and family reunions took place regularly.  Adults were called Aunt’s and Uncles and everyone was called granny, regardless of how old or young they were.  The older women gave their opinion to their grown daughters and daughter-n-laws on raising children, marriage, cooking and cleaning and no one got mad or at least didn’t show it.

In my youth, I saw very little fighting between the adults and when it did happen, they were right back at Granny’s house the next Sunday for dinner with the rest of the family.  All was forgiven and everyone was back to normal.  Why?  Because family was important. Cousins were our best friends, outside of school, because they were who we saw the most and played with all the time.  The younger Aunts and Uncles were more like our older cooler friends who steered us in the right direction than the adults they represented.

Today, so many people do not have the luxury of growing up with family near by.  Granny’s are called a number of different things and Aunts, Uncles and even mom and dads are called by their first name.  Cousins aren’t best friends because they rarely see each other due to distance and busy schedules AND there is no Sunday dinner at Granny’s house for most families.

I work at a local pregnancy center where I am blessed to meet so many couples, both young and old.  Many who come through the center are in a crisis, but no all.  When we ask if they attend church or know the Lord, the amount who say no is staggering.  There are a variety of reasons given for not attending church, from un-belief  to I used to believe/go to church, but don’t anymore.

We always find a way to share the gospel with those who will give us permission to do so.  Many of our patients are alone in our town.  Transplants.  No Granny’s.  No Aunt’s.  No Cousins. And for some, No friends.  This scripture comes to my mind so often.

You see life is hard.  Would you agree?  We all have ups and we all have downs.  The Bible says we will have trouble in this world, John 16:33. God is always with us so we are really never alone, but God knew from the beginning that man needed another human with him.  Genesis 2:18 ESV Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” It is not any different today.  We all need someone.

Now listen, my lady friends.  I know that some of you have been burned by other women so you don’t trust them.  I know that some of you don’t have those cousins, aunts, moms or granny’s nearby to be there to advise you in troubled times.  So as hard as it may be, I encourage you to find a Christian woman friend that you can lean on.  I say Christian friend because you and she and the Lord make three.

Friends may not stick around forever like our family, however a true friend for any amount of time is a blessing from God. Don’t look at it as you can’t trust women.  Look at it as God has taken your friendship with that person to it’s height and He is moving you on to a new level of friendship with someone new.  I am speaking from experience as I have been hurt, stabbed in the back, turned on, spit on, lied about and gossiped on by some of those who were once my best friends.  My hurt, and maybe yours too, was a double whammy because my best friends were Christians.  Each time I was in disbelief that God allowed it to happened.  In my past, I have sworn to never have best friends again in order avoid the complications that comes with them.

BUT, I am here to say that you do not need to be alone, nor do I.  If you have friends, hurt is going to be inevitable but God will always be there to help you get through the hurt and restore your faith in friendship.  A local church is a great place to find friends and support.  In those churches you will find imperfect people who are tying to be the best Christians they can be.  They are not perfect but they love the perfect one, Jesus Christ.  If you don’t have a local church come visit mine, The Body Church, in Rock Hill, SC.  Ask other people what church they attend.  Visit every Sunday until you find one that feels like a family.  Church is more than a check off box.  If you find a good one, church is about Christ and family, church family.

My prayer for you today is that you find that best friend that you can stick to closer than a brother and you that you both invite Christ to be your best friend too.  I will end with this quote from Joyce Meyers,

Don’t waste your time being upset about something you can’t change. Begin again and do it better this time.

 

Rejoice With Singing

Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

I like the word picture at the end of this scripture. It says God will rejoice over you with singing. Singing is a way of rejoicing and thats alright with me. I told a friend of mine recently that music does not typically MOVE me spiritually. While most people listen to music in their car, work or their personal devices I am listening to preaching. On Sunday mornings, I sing the song’s but I really can not wait for the preaching to begin. I barely know the names of the songs and can assure I know very few names of the artist who sing them.

Now here is the weird part. I love to sing. I sing all the time.
Hold on. I bet you are really confused right now. If I don’t listen to music, I don’t know artist names and I am not singing along with the radio then when am I singing? Well, I make up songs all the time. I can’t sing the same song twice because I forget it almost as fast as I make it up. Something happens when I sing. It make me happy. It makes me smile and sometimes I even laugh at myself.

When Kaitlyn lived with me and Tim, I would begin our day each morning making up and singing songs to her, about her, about me, things in the house, the animals and even Tim. My singing made Kaitlyn happy. Maybe she was happy because she thought I should be in the looney bin but either way she would smile and laugh. She would tell Danny and other people about the crazy made up songs I sang.

A couple of weeks ago I was at my daughters house watching my grandkids for the weekend. My grand daughter loves Musically and is on it all the time.  SHE LOVES MUSIC. That weekend was going to be a real treat for her as she was going to have the opportunity to hear a lot of made up songs. Like Kaitlynn, my grand daughter, Carlee, LOVED my songs. The trouble was she liked them too much.

Remember, I said earlier how I forgot the lyrics as quickly as I created them? Not so for Carlee. She not only remembered the lyrics but the beat too. One particular song that I created about her runaway cat Charlie was her favorite. She ask me ALL weekend to sing that made up song and laughed every time she heard it. When her other grandparents came over, she wanted me to sing it to them.  Whenher mother and father returned home she quickly put in a special request for me to sing the song to them. MUCH TO MY HORROR.

The word rejoice is a verb. The definition for rejoice is to feel or show great joy or delight. This scripture basically says that God will show great joy or delight for you by singing to you. I imagine he makes up songs for and about each us. I am sure he knows all the songs we sing to him, and every artist who sings them. But think about what kind of song he might be singing about you right now. I bet that made you laugh!

I challenge you to rejoice over God with singing. Whether you are singing with the radio, writing your own song or making up a silly one, just sing. It is not required that you have a great voice or professional training, just sing. Rejoice over Him with singing. Show Him how much you love Him with a little tune. In case no one has told you today, God Loves and so do I.

Here For A Time

Psalm 119:15-19 ESV I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me.

To really get this scripture there are a few words we have to understand.

Meditate – think deeply or carefully about (something)

Precepts – a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought

Statutes – a law or decree made by a sovereign, or by God.

Sojourner – a person who is staying for a brief period of time

These last few days I have been confined to sitting at home. At first I searched Hulu and Netflix in hopes of finding something to watch to pass the time. Very quickly I realized that there was not much on that captured my attention. I have read my bible for the last few days and felt a desire to dig deeper. Of course as a pastors wife, i have many tools necessary to do just that. I have many bibles in different versions, concordances, bible history and bible dictionaries. I have seminary course CD’s and commentaries by some of the greatest men.

Because I was home alone and I was not suppose to be on my feet and those items were not within my reach. I decided to see what I could find online. To my surprise there are all many good bible study courses online. Of course I checked out the “about” and “what we believe” sections to make sure they were inline with what I believed.

After a lot of research, I settled on a course and signed up to go through a teaching on Genesis. I must say it was refreshing to be digging into the word of God instead of watching meaningless TV shows. The more I listened to the teaching the more excited I became.

I want to encourage you to find time to dig into God’s word. This scripture says we are just here on this earth for brief time. While we are here we need to meditate, think deeply and carefully on Gods statues. We should be focused on his words and ways while looking for wonderful things of and from God.

Find ways to dig deeper into God’s word each day. Don’t rely only on devotionals or Sunday morning sermons. Take time to find out more about God and what He has to say to us. Try to really understand and live by what you learn. I can’t promise it will always be easy but it will be worth it. You are never too young or too old to learn.

Here are a few of the great sites I uncovered today:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/courses/

https://christianuniversity.org/free-courses/

http://www.morlingcollege.com/study-areas/other-courses/free-online-bible-course/

http://www.free-online-bible-study.com/

https://blog.lifeway.com/womenallaccess/online-bible-studies-old/armor-of-god-online-study/

There are many many more for you to choose from. What this research proved to me is that there are many ways for us to get to know God’s word, meditate on it and then live it. It is time to stop making excuses. It is time to stop procrastinating. It is time to stop making excuses. It is time to get busy and today is the day to start. May The Lord “Deal bountifully with your servant, that you may live and keep His word. May He open your eyes, that you may behold wondrous things out of His law”

Trust In The Lord

I don’t know about you guys but I don’t always understand why God allows some of the things he allows to happen on this side of eternity. Being a Pastors wife for over 20 years I know all of the bible answers in my head BUT sometimes my heart still doesn’t understand some things.

I CAN tell you that although I do not always understand God, I do trust Him. I have been through a difficult year, not BECAUSE of God but because of man and his sin. It has been so hard to submit to how God’s word instructed me to handle the sin. I wanted to shout from the mountain top with the other side of the story, remember there are two sides. I wanted to call lost friends and tell them they lost their minds by believing lies and proving to them how they had been deceived. I wanted to tell secrets, that would support my side BUT that is not what God’s word said to do.

So…..I wish I could tell you that by not doing those things and handling the situation the complete opposite way that friendships were restored, problems resolved and troubles disappeared, That would be a happy ending wouldn’t it? The Lord brought a story to my mind as pondered this paragraph. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him but He didn’t make a big deal out of Judas, the betrayer, to everyone else. He and Judas knew what everyone else didn’t know. There were a lot of sin issues that brought Judas to that point of the story and the same was true in my story. Me, the sin and God, knew the truth that others didn’t and I did not have to make a big deal out of it.

This brings me back to where we began: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. God will make your paths straight when you submit to Him and His way. He will lead you through whatever you are going through right now. Dig into the word to find out how to deal with your situation HIS way. It may go against everything you want to do. It may go against what everyone is doing or even what you are being told to do. HOWEVER, Our God is a big God who can take a bad situation and make it good. Follow His instruction and then start looking for the good, BECAUSE HE IS GOOD!

The Pressure Test

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/tzofia/270800047/

Today’s Truth: Job 36:15 He rescues suffering people through their suffering, and he opens their ears through distress.

From My Heart To Yours:

My husband and I love to watch a television show called “MASTERCHEF”. It airs each week on the Fox TV Network and is now in its 3rd season. The show features three judges, famed award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot. The best amateur cooks, approximately 100, are brought in from all over the US to compete for the title of MASTERCHEF and a grand prize of $250,000.00.

Through several individual cooking test the total is then reduced to 18 contestants competing for the title. Individuals are then separated into two teams to compete. Members from the losing team members have to participate in a “pressure test” challenge. The amateur chefs are given a dish they have to create in a very short time. Once the time is up, the dishes are presented to the judges. The judges critique then eliminate one or more contestants.

As we were watching the losing team participates in the pressure test I began to think about the pressure tests we have to deal with throughout our lives. Like the cooks we should have the skills and knowledge to help us face the pressure test challenges we face. Job immediately came to my mind. I think he had the biggest pressure test a Christian could face. His test was given to him in a short period of time and like the contestants, he had no idea what was coming up.

All the amateurs considered themselves to be the best chef and were shocked they were even on the losing team participating in a pressure test. You know, kinda like Job. In the beginning of the book Job was riding high, on the top of world, living life large, confident in himself. As the pressure test hit him, he was a little shocked. He, like the amateur chefs, thought he was too good to find himself in the situation he was in.

Under the pressure of the clock and the food task given each chef handled the stress differently. Some wept, some cursed, some cried, some became panic-stricken and were almost immobilized, some gave up and some a combination of all. As you read further into the book of Job you see that Job too responded to his pressure test in a variety of ways.

After the pressure came the judging by the experts. This was as true for the amateur chefs as it was for Job. Job’s critics, however, were the worst kind; his friends and family. At least in the show everyone knew that the judges are going to rate your food, cooking ability, then insult you personally. Job on the other hand was discouraged when it is his very own friends who were judging him so unkindly instead of encouraging him.

From the book of Job I learned SIX ways to help us pass pressure tests we face:

1. Realize that God knows what we are going through and understands how we feel. Though Job could not begin to understand why all of these things were happening to him, he knew God knew about it. Jesus suffered while he was on the earth and because of that suffering God understands how we feel. Job told his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).

2. God is not the cause of the pressure test, but he is there to help us make it through it. God is involved in every test that we undergo and God is in charge! James 1:13 says, “When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone.” God does not bring problems on us. He is not the source of the trials we may face, but he does allow us to be tried, and he will help us, if we rely on him.

3. Sometimes there is no clear “why”.  One of the difficult things for us to accept is that many of the sufferings we go through simply cannot be explained. The why is often a question unanswered. Bad things do not only happen to bad people. Job recognized that many times the wicked live to reach old age and even appear to prosper.

4. Trust God. It is relatively easy to trust God and believe he is in charge when things are going right. But what about when things turn upside down and inside out? It is in the midst of such perplexity and anguish that faith in God is most needed.

5. There are blessings for obedience. It is easier to quit when tough times come, to curse God and jump right back into our past life of sin. At the conclusion of the book reveals, “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (42:12). In the end, there were blessings for his obedience and for staying true to God.

6. Our trials can make us bitter or they can make us better. Once the trial passes we should have a better understanding of ourselves and of God’s mercy and grace. Whatever the trial or test, there is always growth that can be achieved. God wants us to grow and mature spiritually. Therefore, we must undergo periodic pruning to stimulate that growth (John 15:2).

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, we know that even as Christians we will face pressure test in our life. Sometimes, we forget you are in control when things are turned upside down. Help us to trust you, to rely on you and stay faithful to you during these stressful times. We ask for wisdom, during these tough times, to understand what lessons we are to learn about ourselves, others and/or our relationship with you. In Jesus Name.  AMEN.